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Bodie has long been a shutterbug's dream, but the chance to record its haunting beauty early in the day or at twilight? A rare chance, indeed.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN BODIE... at sunrise each and every day? Is a sweet and cool wind fluttering through some hillside chaparral? Is a wooden door on the front of one of the ghost town's dozens of historic buildings tap, tap, tapping against its frame, ever so slightly? Might a talkative crow be perched somewhere high, chattering at length, all to tell the other animals of the area that a new morning has gloriously sprung? The imagination has to take over in this arena, for the fact of the matter is this: Access to Bodie State Historic Park, which includes one of the best-known ghost towns on the planet, is generally limited to a set number of hours each day. Those hours begin later, and end before dark, most of the time, and guests to the Mono County out-of-the-way landmark can get their fill in the hours that have been allotted. But say you're a photographer? Who has always dreamed of capturing Bodie by the day's first light or the last rays of twilight? There are special...

PHOTOGRAPHY EVENTS... for those exact longings, though they don't happen every week, or every month, even. There are two ahead, one at sunrise on Saturday, Sept. 16, and one at sunset on Saturday, Oct. 14, and each costs $100. The deal? You'll get to "Capture the Mysterious Beauty of Bodie" via "Privileged Access at Sunrise" (or sunset). The ticket price will help fund "critical stabilization projects," an important goal given some of the damage done by recent earthquakes in the area and the epic winter storms of 2016-2017. You won't be able to saunter inside buildings, do note, but as for finding those mystically wide sweeps of hill, historic structure, and vast sky? Your camera's lens'll be all over that goodness, for sure. For details, check out the Bodie Foundation site (and sign up soon, as photography happenings do fill up at the park).